Chapter 104: Chapter 104

TWO DAYS LATER

Hands folded, and standing upright Damien stared at the screen of his laptop, where he was currently having a video call session with Alvarez.

Alvarez and his daughter Ivy rather… The little kid was stationed on her father’s thighs, eating some snacks out of a bowl.

Dragging his gaze away from her, and back to his best friend, Damien cleared his throat and said for the umpteenth time today, “How many times will I tell you that I’ve been calling her line but it’s not reachable. It’s never going true, and with every single call that goes unanswered, the more my suspicions about her grows.”

“Damien, you have to calm down.”

“I can’t calm down damnit! Katherine is a living ticking time bomb. I can still vividly remember the threats she let out the last time we met and I had to leave her in my hotel suite in anger. Do you also know that when I came back, she turned my suite upside down.”

“What? What do you mean man?”

“Man… She shattered the glasses in the room. From the mirrors to the tables… She tore my clothes with a knife or whatever, and my bedsheets too she tore every single thing. As if that was not enough she cut herself and sprayed blood all over my room. I didn’t even see most of what she did because I was angry when I saw the state of my room and left that night in anger, but the hotel manager sent me some pictures. Again I’ve confirmed that she’s not in New York, so that means she’s still in London. So why the fuck isn’t she picking my calls? Just why? Where is she? What is she up to?”

“Have you called Mr Scott?” Alvarez asked the second he finished talking and with a sigh Damien replied, “No I haven’t.”

“Why? I bet he has no idea that his daughter is even here. You need to tell him what she did to you. He needs to know that you’re suspecting his daughter, and that she might have a hand in the abduction of Madison.”

“I can’t man. I just can’t.” Damien blurted after a while.

He didn’t have any concrete evidence yet, proving that Katherine had a hand in this.

Also coupled with the fact that he currently wasn’t on good terms with her father, he could just make everything worse should he call and begin to lay accusations.

Damn it! He was just so confused.

“Damien…” Alvarez called after a while, and dragging his sullen face up, staring at his screen he raised his brow in question as if urging his friend to continue talking.

“You know…” Alvarez began again after a long while, “I never liked that bitch, sorry to say. From the first time I set my eyes on her, and the way her needy claws dug in you, I knew she was bad for you. I tried to tell you then Damien, I even warned you but what did you do? You deflected my speeches at every turn. You…”

“I really don’t know what came over me then Alvarez. I mean, I was with her because she was a good fuck and… and… her father was doing business with me. I saw the good opportunities I would get if I assented to the relationship and undoubtedly it helped me but then…”

“But then see what you’ve gotten into. Just see.”

“I know brother, I know. I’m just freaking confused. It’s been more than six days since Madison’s kidnap and I’m barely living as it is. Even with the bounty placed on her head, no one is coming forward to say a thing. I mean, I won’t even be mad at the kidnappers if they just accept the money and give her back to me. I need Madison here with me… I want her back… I…” Stuttering Damien broke into a sob, his head falling to the table as he began to cry like a kid.

His shoulders shaking heavily, he could hear Alvarez’s daughter ask what was wrong, but even then he didn’t stop crying at all.

He was shedding tears for all the things he’d just lost. All the mistakes he’d made in the past, and the nagging feeling that Madison was not in a good place right now.

Hell, she might even be dead and… “Fuck!” He blurted out all of a sudden and raised his head up to look at Alvarez who was staring back at him solemnly.

“I could fly over to London you know. I think you could make do with my presence and…”

“No Alvarez, no.”

“Huh?”

“No you can’t come here. I’m barely hanging on a thread as it is, and you have a pregnant wife already. She’s already approaching her due date and what about my business. I left everything in your care man, so just be there. I’ll be fine, I promise you and as for Madison I’ll surely get her back. I swear on my soul.”

“Hmmm, okay man. Just be good okay. You’re not looking it at all and…”

“I’ll be fine Alvarez. I have to be strong, I just have to be.”

A brief silence occurred, and then Alvarez let out another sigh and from the screen Damien saw him whisper something in his daughter’s ear before letting the little kid off his lap.

As she sauntered away, Alvarez turned to face him again and then said, “Brother… I know how shitty it feels losing someone and it sucks, believe me, but sometimes… sometimes you just gotta go through with what you gotta do. That way, you find peace. I know how much she meant to you and…”

“What the heck are you saying Alvarez? She’s not dead! She is not! If she was dead, I would have felt it and besides why are you even talking like this? I don’t get it.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I’m sure she’s fine. She is… What I wanted to say is that you should…”

“You know what brother, I’m tired. I need to rest and just take my mind of this whole drama for some minutes.” Damien muttered, rubbing his hands over his face, and Alvarez could only nod back at him.

“Okay man, I’m gonna go now. You look like you really need the rest, and some food.”

“I know right?”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you later. My wife sends her regards and your mom too. I’ll call another time so we can talk well. Hopefully by then there would be good news okay.”

“I hope so Alvarez. I freaking hope so.” Damien said after a while and as they exchanged farewell pleasantries, his hand hovered over the switch off button and then he cut of the video call.

“Shit!” He let out a growl, his head falling to the table as he sweated incessantly.

His heart rate beating heavily, Damien tried to get himself to calm down and just be cool but his brief reviving moment was cut short when suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Scrambling without even hesitating, he brought out the phone hoping to see something usual or someone important calling him, but instead the expectant look on his face quickly changed to one of pure shock and confusion.

Staring right back at him was a text message from an unknown number… a strange number rather, and suddenly Damien felt a chill down his back.

Whatever this was, it wasn’t going to be nice at all and he could feel it.

His fingers trembling slightly, he let out the breath he was holding and muttering a prayer he clicked the text open and that’s when he saw it…

A threat message… From none other than… a stranger.

‘Be warned Mister. So I heard you placed a bounty on the bitch in our custody, and you think you can get her anytime soon. I hate to break it to you but I’m with her for life, and the only time you’ll get to see her is when she’s dead maybe. I can show you her carcass for some kind of closure but then that would be it. You’re trying to prove stubborn, but I want you to know that I am more stubborn. Besides no one owns almighty Damien Daniel’s except me… so get that in your fucking skull. Adios…’

Damien nearly dropped his phone down in shock, as he stared back at the text he’d just read.

His eyes blinking open and close, Damien’s jaw slackened as he came to the realization that the abductor was none other than… He knew who the abductor was.

He’d gotten the info when the person used the word… ‘Almighty Damien Daniel’s.’

Only one person ever called him that and… “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Damien cursed out, not minding the foul language as he gripped the phone in his hand heavily.

Finally getting himself to calm down yet again, Damien instantly copied the strange number and sent it as a text to his personal investigative team, where Mr Rudiger was the leader.

‘Do all you can to find out the location of this number. It’s very important. We might have the kidnapper in our claws.’ Damien sharply typed out, and the second he hit send he threw the phone on the chair besides him.

What the hell? He couldn’t believe his hunch had been right all along, and now more than ever he let out a loud piercing scream and broke down crying.

He’d caused this. Even this kidnap he’d caused it, and now more than ever he knew that if he got a chance to see Madison yet again she would never forgive him.

She wouldn’t…

She would hate and scorn him, and he couldn’t even blame her.

Everything was all his fault. Both the things that happened in the past, and what was happening now. He’d caused it and now he would pay!